G.R. No.

175796, July 22, 2015

BPI FAMILY SAVINGS BANK, INC., Petitioner, v. SPOUSES BENEDICTO & TERESITA
YUJUICO, Respondents.

Facts of the Case:

 The City of Manila filed a complaint against the Sps. Yujuico for the expropriation of five
parcels of land located in Tondo, Manila and registered in the name of Teresita Yujuico. Two

of the parcels of land were

predecessor-in-interest. Thepreviously mortgaged
Manila RTC renderedtoits
Citytrust
judgmentBanking Corporation,
declaring the BPI
’s of
the five parcels
land expropriated for public use.
 BPI decided to extrajudicially foreclose the mortgage constituted on the two parcels of land
subject of the spouses’ loan. After holding the public auction, the sheriff awarded the two lots
to the BPI as the highest bidder.
Makati RTC
 Claiming a deficiency, the BPI sued Sps. Yujuico to recover such deficiency in the Makati
RTC. The spouses moved to dismiss the complaint.
 The Makati RTC denied the motion to dismiss, ruling that there was no res judicata; that the
complaint stated a sufficient cause of action to recover the deficiency; and that there was
nothing to support the claim that the obligation had been abandoned or extinguished apart
from the respondents’ contention that the properties had been subjected to expropriation by

the City of Manila.

 The spouses raised for the first time their objection on the ground of improper venue. They
contended that the action for the recovery of the deficiency was a real action that should have
been brought in the Manila RTC because Manila was the place where the properties were
located.
 The Makati RTC denied the motion for reconsideration for its lack of merit.
Court of Appeals
 The spouses assailed the decision of the RTC to the CA by petition for certiorari.
 The CA ruled that a suit for recovery of the deficiency afterthe foreclosure of a mortgage is in
the nature of a mortgage action because its purpose is precisely to enforce the mortgage
contract. As such, the venue of an action for recovery of deficiency must necessarily be the
same venue as that of the extrajudicial foreclosure of mortgage.
 Since the parcels of land subject of the mortgage contract are located in Tondo, Manila and
the extrajudicial foreclosure of the real estate mortgage took place at the Manila RTC, the suit
for judgment on the deficiency filed by BPI against Sps. Yujuico must necessarily be filed also
at the RTC of Manila, not at the RTC of Makati.

Issue
Whether the RTC did not have jurisdiction over the case on the ground of improper venue.

Ruling of the Court

 It is basic that the venue of an action depends on whether it is a real or a personal action.
 A real action is one that affects title to or possession of real property, or an interest therein.
Thus, an action for foreclosure of mortgage on real property is a real action. The real action
is to be commenced and tried in the proper court having jurisdiction over the area wherein the
 real property involved, or a portion thereof, is situated, which explains why the action is also
referred to as a local action.
 All other actions are regarded as personal actions. It may include those brought for the
recovery of personal property, or for the enforcement of some contract or recovery of damages
for its breach, or for the recovery of damages for the commission of an injury to the person or
property. The venue of a personal action is the place where the plaintiff or any of the principal
plaintiffs resides, or where the defendant or any of the principal defendants resides, or in the

case
whichofreason
a non-resident
the actiondefendant where
is considered he may be
a transitory found, at the election of the plaintiff, for
one.
 An action to recover the deficiency after the extrajudicial foreclosure of the real property
mortgage is a personal action, for it does not affect title to or possession of real property, or
any interest therein.
 In civil proceedings, venue is procedural, not jurisdictional, and may be waived by the
defendant if not seasonably raised either in a motion to dismiss or in the answer. Unless the
defendant seasonably objects, any action may be tried by a court despite its being the
improper venue.
 The petitioner correctly brought Civil Case in the Makati RTC because Makati was the place
where the main office of the petitioner was located. Hence, RTC has jurisdiction over the case.